One type of intra-oral device is a mouthguard. Examples of mouthguards are described in the Applicant's U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,955,393 and 5,082,007. Such mouthguards are fabricated by injection molding in injection molding apparatus, and they can be either consumer products sold through commercial outlets, such as department stores, sporting goods stores, etc., or they can be medical devices available through medical professionals. In some instances, the user of the mouthguard may benefit by having certain modifications made to the manufactured mouthguard so that the mouthguard is thereby customized to the individual.
In one respect the present invention relates to apparatus and method for customizing a generically produced mouthguard for an individual user. Such method and apparatus involve the use of a manually operated electric heating gun which progressively melts the forward end of a stick of customizing material and is manipulated to apply the melted material to a generic intra-oral device in a desired manner. Where the intra-oral device is a mouthguard made of a material such as ethylene-vinyl-acetate co-polymer (EVA), the stick of material is also advantageously EVA. Where the intra-oral device is a different material, such as metal, the use of an EVA stick is still advantageous because it has a certain tenacity for most materials including metals. Because the customized device is to be put to intra-oral usage, the EVA is a pharmaceutical grade of material.
The sticks are themselves novel because of unique arrangements of different zones of material constituting the sticks. For example, one stick may have one zone of one durometer material and another zone of different durometer material. In two disclosed embodiments, the zones may be either concentric or side-by-side as viewed in transverse cross section through the sticks.
Certain features of the manually operated electric heating gun are also unique. One feature is the provision of multiple barrels for simultaneously feeding multiple sticks through the gun to a common heating chamber and dispensing nozzle. This allows one stick to be of one durometer material and another to be of a different durometer material. Another feature of the gun is a system of interchangeable nozzles which provide different patterns for the melted material being dispensed. The gun and nozzles are also provided with quick-attach and quick-release features.
Certain mouthguards have an integral attaching strap that allows the mouthguard to be attached to a face bar or mask, such as commonly used by participants in certain sports activities, and a further aspect of the present invention relates to a container for such a mouthguard. The container is selectively operable to an open condition allowing the mouthguard body to be disposed in the container. It is also selectively operable to either of two closed conditions depending upon whether or not the attaching strap has also been disposed in the container. If the attaching strap has been allowed to pass outwardly from the container, the container is operable to the first of the two closed conditions. This allows the container to be effectively used while the mouthguard remains attached to a face bar, or mask, by its attaching strap. If on the other hand the attaching strap is unattached and disposed entirely inside the container, the container can then be operated to the second of its two closed conditions, thereby completely enclosing the entirety of the mouthguard including the attaching strap.
The foregoing, along with additional features, advantages, and benefits of the invention, will be seen in the ensuing description and claims which should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings illustrate a presently preferred embodiment of the invention according to the best mode contemplated at the present time for carrying out the invention.